Interviews / 7/4/2024

Concrete must improve its environmental performance to maintain its leadership

An interview with the Head of Concrete, Cement, and Export at Mapei France focusing on the challenges for French concrete manufacturers on the road to sustainability

Interviewee

Patrick Montagne

Concrete, Cement and export businesses Mapei France

Drawing on his 28-year long experience in the concrete industry, Patrick Montagne highlights the need to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete, as well as the impact of the RE 2020 environmental regulation in France and the contribution of the RE-CON solutions.

What is your current position at Mapei?

I am responsible for Concrete, Cement and export businesses at Mapei France.

How long have you been working in the concrete industry?

I have always worked in the concrete industry. That means 28 years in all and 23 for Mapei France.

According to you, what are the current main trends in the concrete industry? Is sustainability a crucial issue for the concrete manufacturers you usually deal with?

Of course, the main issue for concrete industry is to reduce the carbon footprint of our material. That means using cements with less clinker, but also taking care of all the other components of concrete: aggregates and water.

What are the main factors that encourage sustainability and which obstacles are there, on the other hand, towards manufacturing more sustainable concrete?

The sustainability of concrete is compulsory for the future of our industry. The new French environmental regulation called RE 2020 sets targets for the carbon footprint and environmental performance of buildings, with a progressive road map. The first steps are not so hard to achieve but it will become trickier in the next few years. The regulation focuses on the performance of the building, and not on each construction material: there are no specific performance requirements for concrete. The project manager is free to play with the design of the building and with a combination from a large portfolio of materials. In this situation, concrete must considerably improve its environmental performance to maintain its leadership as a construction material. It is also a great opportunity to add value to concrete.

On the other hand, two main obstacles need to be highlighted:

the norms and standards do not allow us yet to use all the innovations available in the market: Innovations are introduced very quickly and our certification system struggles to maintain the same pace;
the economic situation: we are facing a serious 3-year crisis in the French concrete industry and most producers are focused and struggling with the cost of the material. Until now there has not been a large economic advantage for sustainable concrete.

The RE 2020 environmental regulation is also a great opportunity to add value to concrete.

How are the RE-CON line products affecting the business of Mapei solutions in your market segment?

Mapei France launched two core lines of products in recent months: our self-leveling screed range, MapeChape, and our admixtures line dedicated to low carbon concrete, belonging to the CUBE SYSTEM. We will now be focused on the implementation of our RE-CON line on the French market. It is really important to drive our line of solutions for sustainable concrete. It is important for our global brand image. Moreover, it enables us to contact building owners and designers and have a real prescription process for our solutions. It is quite difficult to capture the interest of building owners and designers with the standard admixture offer. RE-CON line offers the opportunity of a disruptive and exclusive portfolio of solutions, one that is genuinely linked to items those who draft specifications are focused on. It is a key element to succeed in developing our share in key accounts: as market leaders, they are really focused on concrete sustainability. RE-CON line offers us the opportunity to continue with joint and collaborative projects with key accounts to assess and implement our technical solutions in the field. Also, from a relationship perspective, the RE-CON line is important for the Mapei France portfolio.

What are the winning characteristics of this line according to your experience of the market? What can you expect from it in the next few years?

Mapei offers the most proven and the most effective portfolio of solutions for sustainable concrete on the market. We are able to help in the production of concrete with low clinker cement, the use of aggregates containing clay, the use of recycled aggregates, the processing and treatment of returned concrete and the reduction of slag production in washing operations. We are able to impact all the components of concrete and all the production steps. The RE-CON line will be the cornerstone of our range of admixtures, both for the turnover involved and from a strategic point of view.

Figure 4 - Schematic view of the use of RE-CON line solutions and how they contribute to reducing the cost and negative effects of waste stream handling